By: Hellen Zaboulani

A group of South Asian immigrant hotel owners has united to fight the proposed bill that would force hotels to directly employ positions, instead of outsourcing. As reported by the NY Post, the group of Indian-Americans say the legislation would “destroy” the city’s hospitality industry and their American Dreams. The group, known as the New York City Minority Hotel Association, collectively owns roughly 120 non-union hotels mostly outside of Manhattan. The group is fighting against the New York City council’s controversial Safe Hotel Act, which would ban outsourcing jobs like housekeeping, saying it would force hotel costs up and force them to unionize.

“Our coalition is the embodiment of the American Dream — hard working immigrant families who came to this nation, took a chance to build their small businesses and, over decades, created a community within the walls of their hotels,” said Mukesh Patel, founding member of the group, and a NYC hotelier who immigrated here from India some 30 years ago. “As it is currently imagined, [the bill] has the potential to destroy all of that progress, put thousands of people out of work and shut down small businesses all over the city.”

The bill, sponsored by Upper East Side Democratic Councilwoman Julie Menin, would require that hotels obtain a license to operate each year. This license would allow the city Department of Consumer and Worker Protection to regulate the hotels—and bar them from contracting out cleaning, maintenance or front desk jobs at the hotels. Proponents of the bill, including the powerful union representing hotel workers — the Hotel Trades Council — tout the bill as a pro-safety, pro-consumer and pro-worker measure. Per the Post, they hold that, aside from giving jobs to union workers, the bill could help combat sex-trafficking, since hotel workers would be more steady and could more easily spot unusual and potentially illicit activity.

“I don’t think most council members are aware of the consequences this bill will have on the hotel industry,” Patel said. “We have not fully recovered from the COVID pandemic. We are still struggling.” He explained that the new licenses would allow for unfair revocation of licenses, increasing the risks or uncertainty for hotels, and potentially leading banks to no longer bankroll loans to hotels.

Patel added that even the government and the HTC union rely on outsourcing for certain positions, and private hotels should have the same option. He also noted that all hotel workers — direct hires and contact employees — do undergo sex-trafficking awareness training and other trainings.

“Our industry supports thousands of families all over New York City, many of whom are hardworking immigrant and minority families hoping to secure stability in this great city, yet the City Council is willing to play politics with their livelihoods,” said Nikul Patel, another NYC hotel owner and a founding member of NYCMHA, who is not related to Mukesh.

Menin, who is vying a run for city council speaker, defended her bill, boasting that it has support from the five district attorneys as well as the city Police Benevolent Association, who claim the stricter hiring will help curb crime such as sex trafficking and drugs in and around hotels. ”With 39 murders at hotels and 14,000 complaints to the NYPD [since 2019], there’s a reason the five District Attorneys and the PBA support the Safe Hotels Act and why cities all across the country successfully license hotels,” said Menin.